Work is advancing on schedule at the New Lebanon School construction site.

Work is advancing on schedule at the New Lebanon School construction site.

Photo: / Robert Marchant / Hearst Media

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Construction noise fills the air at the New Lebanon School construction site off Mead Avenue.

Construction noise fills the air at the New Lebanon School construction site off Mead Avenue.

Photo: / / Robert Marchant / Hearst Media

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Steel structure going up as new school in Greenwich takes shape

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GREENWICH — After years of budget negotiations and contentious planning debates, construction is moving ahead at a brisk pace at the site of the new New Lebanon School.

The steel frame of the new school has begun to take shape, and a concrete foundation has been laid down. More steel will be put up throughout the month of May, according to the Greenwich School District.

Stephen Walko, chairman of the New Lebanon Building Committee, said the construction was going according to plan.

“I’m cautiously optimistic. We’re currently on time and on budget,” he said. Work began after a ground-breaking in December.

The sounds of construction have been filling the area at the school campus off Mead Avenue, where the new school is going up next to the old one. The new structure will replace the current one, which has is badly cramped and outdated.

A New Lebanon parent who stopped by the school recently said she was gratified to hear the project was on schedule. “It’s good to hear — it’s been a long time coming,” said Jamila Jean. “They’re really making progress.”

Although the construction was generating a significant amount of noise, Jean said it was quiet in the areas of the school building where students receive instruction.

The $37.3 million school construction project could be nearing completion in late December.

“We expect the building to receive its temporary certificate of occupancy on Dec. 24,” said Walko. After that, the building will be “aired out,” and the construction team will run tests and look for any glitches in the new structure.

Students can be expect to make the move to the new building in February 2019.

“The final completion of the project — site work, parking lot, demolition of the old building — will be happening spring and summer of 2019,” Walko said.

It is gratifying to the school community for the building to take shape, he said. “Visually, you can see it all happening, it’s really great,” Walko said.

The roof and walls will be installed this summer.

The New Lebanon School project had been hung up for months by lawmakers in Hartford last year. Delays in the passage of the state budget and the signing of a state bond bill pushed back the groundbreaking from July to December. Town officials were waiting for the state component to come through before undertaking the work.

The state has agreed to reimburse about $20 million of construction costs, with the remainder paid for by the town.

The new school will be an intra-district elementary International Baccalaureate magnet school, to serve students from prekindergarten through grade 5.